African Records World Expedition
Deadline: 31 December 2013

The Book of African Records (BAR) is a proudly African, innovative and growing organisation. We collect records about Africa and Africans and use these as a positive change agent against stereotypical coverage of Africa in the global media.

In 2015 and 2016, and in collaboration with tourism boards across Africa, BAR is organizing a promotional and world-wide road show to be known as the African Records World Expedition. This cultural diplomacy shall take participants across 41 countries over a distance of 52 000km by road, using expedition vehicles. If successful, this journey will be the first circumnavigation of the Earth’s surface by Africans.

The African Records World Expedition will be collaborating with an African satellite television that shall be documenting and broadcasting this historic journey as a reality show for popular consumption across Africa.

This is a call for interested individuals who would like to join the expedition as a participant. There are no specific personal qualifications as the final 12 participants shall be chosen through a 3-tier elimination process that shall test candidates’ fitness for travel, general health status, ability to mentally endure extreme conditions, command of foreign languages, Class 1/4 driving skills, among other things. Whilst the organization and sponsors shall meet costs of travel for the entire 14 months, successful candidates are required to contribute 15% towards own total cost of participation.

Successful candidates will also be expected to play an active role in the preparations for 11 months prior to departure day. There are no immediate material benefits to participation.

Positions available: 12 (this includes, among other things, photographers, videographers, rapporteurs, drivers, mechanics). Individuals with a multiplicity of skills will be given preference.

Duration of expedition: 14 months (Departure day is 1 January 2015)

Countries to be covered: Zimbabwe, Zambia, Malawi, Tanzania, Kenya, Ethiopia, South Sudan, Sudan, Egypt, Greece, Italy, France, United Kingdom, Holland, Germany, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Russia, Kazakhstan, China, India, Australia, Japan, Canada, USA, Mexico, Cuba, Jamaica,  Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia, Venezuela, Brazil, Paraguay, Argentina, Chile, South Africa.

An introductory meeting for potential participants shall be held in Harare in the 1st week of January 2014.

For further details, interested individuals are kindly requested to email: expedition [at] bookofafricanrecords [dot] org

Here’s an important contribution to the discussion on democracy in Zimbabwe. Vince Musewe is an economist and author based in Harare – his contact email address is at the end of his article.

Never, has so much been owed by so few to so many.

My name its Vincent Tichafa Musewe, I am an African who by God’s design, was born here in Zimbabwe so that after I am gone, this place will be a better place because I have lived. After all that is true leadership.

I therefore must share with you my idea of Zimbabwe. It is not what I see today.

We must revive our economy as a matter of urgency but more important, we must tell a new story about our beautiful country. We must invest a new narrative, a new paradigm so that out of our bosom, may be born a new beginning where all Zimbabweans regardless of race can live up to their full potential.

We must hurry and be gripped by the creation of those circumstances we desire most without being cowered or being afraid. After all, fear is a mental construct.

We must create a country where all are free to pursue their dreams without limit; a country whose unimaginable wealth can be utilized to eradicate poverty and lack; a country whose resources are applied to the benefit of all and not to the benefit a few men and women simply because they have access to arms of war.

My ideas and inspirations in creating a new Zimbabwe are based on one undeniable truth; that any nation that does not create freedom and liberty for its citizens to live up to their full potential will in turn, never attain its own full potential. The people must come first and their happiness and development must therefore be nourished, protected and preserved so that our country can truly become what we imagine it to be.

The dignity, security and prosperity of every Zimbabwean enshrined in our constitution were not fashioned to be applied at the whim of our leaders, but these are non negotiable rights for everyone born Zimbabwean. It is a non negotiable instrument that cannot be returned to sender. We must demand that this government meets its obligations.

In my opinion, no economic blue print no matter how clever and intelligent it may sound can ever create the conditions necessary for progress until the values of those that lead us change. Economic blue prints hardly excite me simply because we have had so many of them. Let us therefore be careful and not be complacent because the days are dangerous.

To our politicians:

I do not care how many degrees you may have; how many doctorates and academic accolades you may lay claim on, if I see young Zimbabwean girls in South Africa or in Harare becoming prostitutes to make a living so that they may feed their children back home.

When I see small burnt children at a hospital that cannot treat them because there are no medicines, I don’t care what car you drive.

When I hear that Zimbabweans are fighting off animals for fruit so that they may have something to eat, I do not care where you live or what designer suit you are wearing.

I care less for the sophisticated English words you may use in justifying your entitlement to power when I know that my brothers and sisters in the Diaspora must take three jobs so that they may survive and also look after their siblings at home.

When pensioners who worked for half of their lifetime cannot buy food, I am not impressed by the way you walk or talk.

I care less for the balance in your bank account when I hear that a large number of young mothers are dying from cervical cancer or that two million Zimbabweans will go hungry this season. When I see desperate youth wonder how each day will turn out because they are unemployed.

What use are your degrees in history, philosophy, rocket science, medicine, politics if those degrees lead to wide spread poverty, depression and hopelessness? What use are they when we know we in Zimbabwe have some of the largest mineral resources on earth including vast fertile soils yet we are facing an economic calamity? They are useless.

Never, in my opinion, has so much been owed by so few to so many.

The Zimbabwe I seek to create will have none of this.

Unfortunately I do not see this Zimbabwe I dream of coming tomorrow. I know, however, that it is buried deep down within my soul and it was born the day I was born in Highfield. God willing, it will surely come to pass in my life time.

All we need is now is hope and a strong belief in our potential but this hope must be underpinned by action; action to do what we can from where we are with what we have to create the circumstances we deserve.

We must accelerate the creation of a new Zimbabwe that is not limited by the imagination of those that only seek personal benefit but a Zimbabwe of unlimited potential underpinned and fashioned by the free spirit of the people of Zimbabwe.

It will take a while but I am convinced that one fine day, in the steal of the night it will come.

Don’t give up!

Vince Musewe is an economist and author based in Harare. You may contact him on vtmusewe [at] gmail [dot] com

Some people become activists through passion while some find themselves on the streets because they are just tired of getting screwed by the system. When Martin Luther King took to the streets he wanted to share his dream of a society where race was not an issue. The general socio-economic and political conditions we now live in demand action and solutions to our day to day needs. Every time we turn on news channels its about protests and uprisings as more and more people continue to demand solutions to contemporary problems affecting them.

South Africa was recently dubbed “the protest capital of the world” as the streets have become permanent homes for activists. Living in a world faced with a lot of injustice and inequality mainly driven by greed, profiteering and ignorance, calls for a collective effort from everybody. Activism is about affecting social change and championing a cause whether big or small. Small things like a change of mindset won’t even require government or big donor funding for a start and that’s the reason why we often read about the great works by Wangari Mathaai of Kenya who managed to share knowledge on environment conservation with rural communities. A young girl from Pakistan almost lost her life because she wanted other young girls in her country to have access to education. Even the young school children of South Africa became active in 1979 demanding better education. Artists as role models for the young generation have also become heavily involved in activism especially towards raising awareness on behavior change targeting drug abuse and safe sex.

Activism comes with its own challenges with many activists the world over being persecuted for championing people’s rights. Zimbabwe is one such country where activists and social movement groups have been labeled enemies of the state. A crack down on dissenting voices has resulted in many people shying away from being active in the community on issues that affect them due to fear.

One of Zimbabwe’s aspiring activists Wadzanai Motsi was awarded the prestigious Thomas J. Watson Fellowship and she conducted research on youth’s contributions to activism. At a Food for Thought session hosted by US Embassy Public Affairs section, Wadzanai and Ruvheneko Parirenyatwa shared their experiences on various forms of activism and the different ways each person can contribute to make the society we live in a better place.

In 1947 Johnnie and Greta Makings arrived from a green and wet England
and bought this house on a dry and dusty hillside in a foreign land

at that time there was no water supply to Monavale
just a few rambling farmhouses and manager’s dwellings
strewn across its stony hilltops
that rise above the surrounding wetlands

Johnnie was an action man of the land
a pioneer
he knew how to survive
he was one of the initiators of the communal borehole
that was piped into the scattered dwellings
he picked up the millions of loose rocks and created beautiful dry stone walls
across contours of the hill
around gardens (fed by his house waste water)
built stone houses

he was a creative god in this foreign garden

when we came to this place in 1980
Johnnie and Greta were still living in their (Johnnie-built) house next door
and they welcomed us in with stories of this hill
- their home for 33 years

Johnnie told me of noticing a Gum Tree sapling
when he was building stone steps at the bottom of the garden
and of his decision to leave it to grow
an evergreen fast-growing foreigner to this land
it captured his spirit

when we arrived 33 years later, the hill was already a different place
water was being pumped from a seemingly limitless underground aquifer
and fed into gardens and vegetable patches on the hilltops
it had turned into a green and leafy place
with towering gums and shady jacarandas
foreign trees, planted by the new settlers
seeking a more gentle way of life

gods in the garden

30 years later, a more environmentally aware community
began to see the impact of these foreign evergreens
on the indigenous trees

beautiful Musasas and hardwoods
out-competed by new exotics
which  were spreading fast across the hill
leaving only vestiges of this once unique woodland

once again we became gods in the garden

and began to cut and cull these alien trees
in an effort to retain what had been lost
and we planted back native trees
and began slowly to see the increase in insects and birds and diversity

We too have been living on this hill for 33 years now
and Johnnie Makings’ Gum tree had reached an incredible height and girth
she could be seen for miles towering above the tallest tree on the hill

for years now there have been conversations about her survival …
the obvious problem being the amount of underground water she consumed
she was leaning a bit
she was out competing the surrounding trees
she was getting old – drying out at the outer branches?
was she on her way out?

when we were in Cape Town
Mel took the decision to cut her down

gods in the garden

coming back to a huge empty hole in our canopy was devastating
despite being warned
despite the logic
I feel a deep mourning

she was the herald of sunrise
catching the first light in the  tips of her sky-high branches
holding the last touch of gold
long after the sun had sunk below the horizon
the roosting place of eagles, falcons and passing herons
home to thousands of birds

she was my age
she was my friend
she was a guardian of our boundaries

what responsibility we take
when we play with the balance of nature
only aware of our own intentions
until we see the effects of our actions

in the bare-open space at the bottom,
Mel is ready to plant a few hundred indigenous trees and bushes
the moment the rains begin

gods in the garden

Lily found the huge cobra under the jasmine last week
it’s ankle wide girth winding swiftly across the lawn and into the rocks below
a sense of awe
of gratitude and relief that she is still here

and there were 2 bush babies at the bananas last night
are they a pair?

the garden echoes with the peeping of new fledglings

there are gods in the garden
despite our god-like interference

Volkswagen Foundation’s Knowledge for Tomorrow – Cooperative Research Projects in Sub-Saharan Africa
Deadline: 13 December 2013

Volkswagen Foundation has announced funding initiative “Knowledge for Tomorrow – Cooperative Research Projects in Sub-Saharan Africa”. The objective of this program is to focus on development and sustainable reinforcement of research in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Research projects, developed and carried out by African scholars and scientists in close cooperation with their German partners, shall provide junior researchers in Africa with an opportunity to enhance their skills and academic qualifications.

Special emphasis is put on the development, reinforcement, and extension of academic networks inside Africa beyond existing language barriers.

Thematic areas
-Land
-Water
-Biological resources
-Sustainable energy for domestic use

Please use this link for more information

Launch of Openphoto 2013 Competition with US$5,000 First Prize … Victories & Violations – The Struggle for Minority Rights in Africa
Deadline: 30 November 2013

After the success of the inaugural competition in 2012, the Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa (OSISA) is pleased to announce the launch of OPENPhoto 2013 on the theme of Minority Rights in Africa – with the winners being selected by a jury comprised of some of Africa’s and the world’s top documentary photographers, and with a top prize of US$5,000.

Aiming to encourage analytical and critical thinking about society in Africa and support the development of photojournalism across the continent, OPENPhoto 2013 is looking for strong, interpretive documentary work on the theme of Victories and Violations: The Struggle for Minority Rights in Africa.

“Across the continent, many people remain marginalised and socially excluded because they are minorities. People are discriminated against because they are disabled or homosexual or indigenous or sex workers. Or because they are women living with HIV. Or men from a small ethnic group. Or children from a non-state religion. Or families fleeing persecution in another country,” said Richard Lee, OSISA’s Communications Manager. “OPENPhoto 2013 is looking to reward photo essays that depict the reality of life for these marginalised minorities – the good and the bad, their struggles and their successes.”

The competition is open to any photographer based in Africa – professional or amateur. And the prizes are definitely worth winning:

First Prize – US$5,000 plus a commissioned assignment with OSISA in 2014
Second Prize – US$2,000; and
Third Prize – US$1,000

OPENPhoto 2013 will be judged by a prestigious jury of award-winning African and international photographers. Convened by the Pulitzer Prize-winning South African photographer, Greg Marinovich, the jury includes João Silva, Munem Wasif, Patrick Baz, Robin Comley, Yunghi Kim, Enrico Dagnino, Andrew Lichtenstein, David Dare Parker and Janine Haidar.

The competition deadline is November 30th with the winners being announced on December 16th.

For more information and to apply: www.open-photo.org